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Academic Staff (academic + staff)
Selected AbstractsResearch Productivity and Social Capital in Australian Higher EducationHIGHER EDUCATION QUARTERLY, Issue 2 2010Mohammad Salaran This study investigates the role of social capital in raising research productivity in academic institutions. Social capital as a strategic resource embedded in social relationships can be utilised towards decreasing pressures from external environmental conditions, such as the global financial crisis. A survey was sent to academic staff in five universities in Victoria, to collect data regarding their frequency of communications and research productivity. The findings indicated that there is a significant and positive correlation between social interactions and research productivity. Regression analysis demonstrated that social interactions as an independent variable predict research productivity of academics. [source] The Unfolding Trends and Consequences of Expanding Higher Education in Ethiopia: Massive Universities, Massive ChallengesHIGHER EDUCATION QUARTERLY, Issue 1 2009Kedir Assefa Tessema Abstract There have been significant increases in the number of universities and student enrollments in the last fifteen years in Ethiopia. The numerical gains have brought about improved access to higher education for students. The expansion has also diversified fields of study and opened opportunities to pursue higher degrees to a significant number of students. Furthermore, the opportunity created for the university staff includes increased university job security, positions in the university leadership and scholarships for PhD degrees. On the other hand, the downside effects of the massification have worsened the conditions of university teaching staff. Among others, it has resulted in increasing work load and extended work schedules for academic staff. A managerialist culture has evolved that measures teaching against instrumental outcomes. There is a sense of deprofessionalisation and deskilling among staff manifested in practices that are disconnections from professional knowledge, skills and attitudes. As staff are increasingly over-engaged, by taking more weekly class hours and managerial responsibilities, less ,down time' is available to keeping with developments in their fields of specialisation and practice [source] Overcoming Fragmentation in Professional Life: The Challenge for Academic DevelopmentHIGHER EDUCATION QUARTERLY, Issue 1 2002Stephen Rowland This paper portrays the fragmented nature of higher education, experienced in terms of a number of fractures. I have chosen to concentrate here on five of these fractures or fault lines: the diverse assumptions about the nature of higher education; the separation between teachers and learners; the separation between academic staff and those who manage them; the split between teaching and research; and the fragmented nature of knowledge itself. Policy initiatives have tended to aggravate these fractures. I suggest that the task for academic development is to work within these fractures, to attempt to create coherence in academic practice. To do this, we need to develop a series of critical conversations between teachers and learners, between academics and managers and between the disciplines. Such conversations might be seen as contributing to the development of a new academic professionalism. The first and foremost subject of this thinking together must concern the purposes of higher education itself. [source] What about the workers?INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS JOURNAL, Issue 1 2004The expansion of higher education, the transformation of academic work ABSTRACT This article assesses the impact of the profound changes that have taken place in the higher education sector on academic staff in the UK. The perceptions of staff about their work and employment are examined through evidence provided by a recent large-scale survey. The discussion draws on a labour process perspective. The article finds that the views of staff are far from homogeneous and not universally pessimistic. However, in general the morale and satisfaction of many teaching staff have been eroded by work intensification and that of research staff by the considerable insecurity created by casualised employment. Nonetheless resistance and resilience continues despite the commodifying pressures, and ,traditional' values remain strong. [source] Query expansion behavior within a thesaurus-enhanced search environment: A user-centered evaluationJOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN SOCIETY FOR INFORMATION SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY, Issue 4 2006Ali Shiri The study reported here investigated the query expansion behavior of end-users interacting with a thesaurus-enhanced search system on the Web. Two groups, namely academic staff and postgraduate students, were recruited into this study. Data were collected from 90 searches performed by 30 users using the OVID interface to the CAB abstracts database. Data-gathering techniques included questionnaires, screen capturing software, and interviews. The results presented here relate to issues of search-topic and search-term characteristics, number and types of expanded queries, usefulness of thesaurus terms, and behavioral differences between academic staff and postgraduate students in their interaction. The key conclusions drawn were that (a) academic staff chose more narrow and synonymous terms than did postgraduate students, who generally selected broader and related terms; (b) topic complexity affected users' interaction with the thesaurus in that complex topics required more query expansion and search term selection; (c) users' prior topic-search experience appeared to have a significant effect on their selection and evaluation of thesaurus terms; (d) in 50% of the searches where additional terms were suggested from the thesaurus, users stated that they had not been aware of the terms at the beginning of the search; this observation was particularly noticeable in the case of postgraduate students. [source] Identifying challenges for academic leadership in medical universities in IranMEDICAL EDUCATION, Issue 5 2010Ali Bikmoradi Medical Education 2010: 44: 459,467 Context, The crucial role of academic leadership in the success of higher education institutions is well documented. Medical education in Iran has been integrated into the health care system through a complex organisational change. This has called into question the current academic leadership, making Iranian medical universities and schools a good case for exploring the challenges of academic leadership. Objectives, This study explores the leadership challenges perceived by academic managers in medical schools and universities in Iran. Methods, A qualitative study using 18 face-to-face, in-depth interviews with academic managers in medical universities and at the Ministry of Health and Medical Education in Iran was performed. All interviews were recorded digitally, transcribed verbatim and analysed by qualitative content analysis. Results, The main challenges to academic leadership could be categorised under three themes, each of which included three sub-themes: organisational issues (inefficacy of academic governance; an overly extensive set of missions and responsibilities; concerns about the selection of managers); managerial issues (management styles; mismatch between authority and responsibilities; leadership capabilities), and organisational culture (tendency towards governmental management; a boss-centred culture; low motivation). Conclusions, This study emphasises the need for academic leadership development in Iranian medical schools and universities. The ability of Iranian universities to grow and thrive will depend ultimately upon the application of leadership skills. Thus, it is necessary to better designate authorities, roles of academic staff and leaders at governance. [source] Creating University Spin-Offs: A Science-Based Design Perspective,THE JOURNAL OF PRODUCT INNOVATION MANAGEMENT, Issue 2 2008Elco Van Burg Academic entrepreneurship by means of university spin-offs commercializes technological breakthroughs, which may otherwise remain unexploited. However, many universities face difficulties in creating spin-offs. This article adopts a science-based design approach to connect scholarly research with the pragmatics of effectively creating university spin-offs. This approach serves to link the practice of university spin-off creation, via design principles, to the scholarly knowledge in this area. As such, science-based design promotes the interplay between emergent and deliberate design processes. This framework is used to develop a set of design principles that are practice based as well as grounded in the existing body of research on university spin-offs. A case-study of spin-off creation at a Dutch university illustrates the interplay between initial processes characterized by emergent design and the subsequent process that was more deliberate in nature. This case study also suggests there are two fundamentally different phases in building capacity for university spin-off creation. First, an infrastructure for spin-off creation (including a collaborative network of investors, managers and advisors) is developed that then enables support activities to individual spin-off ventures. This study concludes that to build and increase capacity for creating spin-offs, universities should do the following: (1) create university-wide awareness of entrepreneurship opportunities, stimulate the development of entrepreneurial ideas, and subsequently screen entrepreneurs and ideas by programs targeted at students and academic staff; (2) support start-up teams in composing and learning the right mix of venturing skills and knowledge by providing access to advice, coaching, and training; (3) help starters in obtaining access to resources and developing their social capital by creating a collaborative network organization of investors, managers, and advisors; (4) set clear and supportive rules and procedures that regulate the university spin-off process, enhance fair treatment of involved parties, and separate spin-off processes from academic research and teaching; and (5) shape a university culture that reinforces academic entrepreneurship by creating norms and exemplars that mo ivate entrepreneurial behavior. These and other results of this study illustrate how science-based design can connect scholarly research to the pragmatics of actually creating spin-offs in academic institutions. [source] Diagnostic online assessment of basic IT skills in 1st-year undergraduates in the Medical Sciences Division, University of OxfordBRITISH JOURNAL OF EDUCATIONAL TECHNOLOGY, Issue 2 2009Vivien Sieber Attitude, experience and competence (broadly covered by the European Computer Driving Licence syllabus) in information technology (IT) were assessed in 846 1st-year Medical Sciences Division undergraduates (2003,06) at the start of their first term. Online assessments delivered during induction workshops were presented as an opportunity for self-evaluation and to provide performance-related recommendations for training. Results were consistent over 4 years. There was no difference in attitude between years or programme of study and the majority selected ,competent to use a range of applications'. Nor were there any differences in competence between all students in any year; however, male Medical Science students performed significantly better than females (2006). Students with a recognised IT qualification also did significantly better than those without. There was a discrepancy between measured skill and individual self-evaluation of competence; in particular, weaker students overestimated their competence. In all years, some students showed a fundamental lack of understanding of basic IT skills. Introducing online diagnostic testing raised the profile of the importance of IT skills to both academic staff and students. [source] Helping academic staff to design electronic learning and teaching approachesBRITISH JOURNAL OF EDUCATIONAL TECHNOLOGY, Issue 5 2004Gayani Samarawickrema First page of article [source] Balancing Work and Family: A Controlled Evaluation of the Triple P- Positive Parenting Program as a Work-Site InterventionCHILD AND ADOLESCENT MENTAL HEALTH, Issue 4 2003Alicia J. Martin Background: Despite a wealth of evidence showing that behavioural family intervention is an effective intervention for parents of children with behavioural and emotional problems, little attention has been given to the relationship between parents functioning at work and their capacity to manage parenting and other home responsibilities. This study evaluated the effects of a group version of the Triple-P Positive Parenting Program (WPTP) designed specifically for delivery in the workplace. Method: Participants were 42 general and academic staff from a major metropolitan university who were reporting difficulties managing home and work responsibilities and behavioural difficulties with their children. Participants were randomly assigned to WPTP, or to a waitlist control (WL) condition. Results: Following intervention, parents in WPTP reported significantly lower levels of disruptive child behaviour, dysfunctional parenting practices, and higher levels of parental self-efficacy in managing both home and work responsibilities, than parents in the WL condition. These short-term improvements were maintained at 4-months follow-up. There were also additional improvements in reported levels of work stress and parental distress at follow-up in the WPTP group compared to post-intervention. Conclusions: Implications for the development of ,family-friendly' work environments and the prevention of child behaviour problems are discussed. [source] | |||||||||||||